z-5500 suitable for small apt with thin walls?

LordBritish

LordBritish

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I live in a small 1BR apt on the second floor with neighbors beside me, above me, and below me.

The walls are relatively thin too.

Can I use a z-5500 or will I be evicted :D ?
 
You would probably be evicted with any speaker/amp/sub combo.

You can fill up the room and walls with sound absorbing materials, especially for the mid and high frequencies. You'd have to secure pictures and anything that vibrates. To absorb bass you'd have to reseach bass traps. Either way i doubt you'll ever be able to crank the volume.

I also recommend you do your testing when your neighbors aren't home ;)

Good luck either way
 
My apartment is ancient (1920s building) and I've had noise complaints from a z-5300e. Elevating the subwoofer can eliminate some vibrations through the floor, but you really can't do much. Get some nice headphones instead.
 
You will be evicted without a doubt in my mind.

With the volume at 3 bars out of 20, my parents sleeping in the other room still tell me to lower it. And this is with the subwoofer volume only halfway up.

I think what you're looking for is a nice set of headphones. Subwoofers penetrate walls like bullets. ;)
 
I have 5300s, and I'm in the same situation as you.

They never see above 2 notches. You're best off buying yourself a nice set of headphones.

It seems like people don't care durring the day, and plus, for me, everyone is usually out. It's just at night, the headphones go on and I stop making noise.

No one has complained yet, and I've been there for almost a year.
 
heh yeah the Z-5500's are a best.

But you can control the bass volume separately just like with the center/rear.

Even though my apartments were made around 1980 I haven't gotten any complains, I do turn off bass if I'm watching something late at night, or use my headphones.
 
I lived in an apartment for under 2 months and I was using tiny 30 watt things that I had got at Wal-Mart (Koss or something, had 5 speakers and a sub) and apparently the people around me didn't enjoy ATC's "Around the World" because I got the police called on me twice. The first time was like 10 PM and the second time was 3 AM playing CS:S except I was playing "What is Love" by Haddaway instead haha.

I tried to explain I had lived in a house my entire life and it totally slipped my mind but they were ragin'. So now I'm back in a house and can enjoy the gayest music known to man at any volume level at any hour.
 
make friends with ur neighbors, invite them over for movie night and popcorn or somethin. Thats the only way they will let you pump up the volume somewhat :p
 
most of the treble and midrange really won't penetrate...the bass is what screws you.

Sub 100Hz bass tones can be heard/felt several feet/yards away, even if poorly powered.
 
the z5500 sub would rattle shit off of walls in other peoples' apartments. You'd be able to hear the bass several apartments away at full power
 
Heh, it would easily be heard from a good radius, and you might get complaints.

Honestly, if the wall are too thin, I would worry about the bass breaking them. (Not really, but damn it pounds!)
 
never had anyone complain about mine. I just listen and watch movies at times were I dont feel as bad turning it up. I use it with my TV and listen to everything through them. For the cost they cant be beat. Only draw back IMO is input amount but thats livable. Just dont be stupid about when and how loud you play them and should be fine. I have used them for about 2 years without many issues. It also depends on who is living around you. Grandma will more than likely call well before people in their 20's.
 
ive seen some guy have his sub on like a foam pad or something made specifically for apartments. Let me see if i can find it.
 
Go with a nice headphone setup. If your neighbors are noisy get some closed headphones. Headphones are great when you have roommates/live close to neighbors.
 
Thanks for the Gramma link. Just the thing I am after to pair with the z5500s :).
 
Nick_Leo said:
i found the foam pad thing...

http://www.auralex.com/sound_isolation_gramma/sound_isolation_gramma.asp

and heres a talk about it on some audio forum.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18706
Click to expand...
Ya, you can pretty much make a subdude yourself. You basically layer a few different flat materials together (materials that tend to absord bass), make the visible top layer pretty, and you're set.

People seem to rave about them claiming there's a decent audible difference, and that bass notes won't penetrate as much.
 
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